What Are Lettuce cups and How Can I Use Them?
Wondering what to do with lettuce cups? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 4 recipes to put them to work.
Key Points
- Lettuce cups are whole crisp leaves used as edible vessels, not a lettuce variety.
- A staple of Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking; fill with warm, well-drained savory mixtures.
- Use crunchy iceberg or romaine for hold, butterhead for a softer fold; see lettuce leaves.
What are lettuce cups?
Lettuce cups are not a variety of lettuce but a way of using one: whole, crisp leaves served as edible vessels for a savory filling. You spoon something warm and saucy into each leaf and eat it with your hands, no plate or fork needed.
The dish is a staple of Chinese and Southeast Asian tables, where minced meat lettuce wraps turn a stir-fry into finger food. A Spicy Beef Lettuce Cups is exactly that: seasoned beef scooped into chilled, crunchy leaves.
Building Good Lettuce Cups
The leaf has to do two jobs at once: stay rigid enough to hold filling and curl enough to cradle it. Iceberg and the inner leaves of romaine give you crunch and a sturdy hold, while butterhead gives you a softer, more flexible cup that folds easily.
Keep the cups cold and crisp until you fill them, and spoon in the hot filling at the table so the leaf does not steam and go limp. Drain any wet filling first, or the bottom of the cup turns soggy.
For how to separate, wash, and crisp whole leaves without tearing them, see the lettuce leaves page.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 生菜杯
- British (UK) term
- Lettuce cups
- en français
- coupes de laitue
- en español
- tazas de lechuga
Recipes using lettuce cups
There are 4 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Chicken-Apple Salad
Chicken apple salad with diced unpeeled apples, celery, raisins, and lemon-mayo dressing served in crisp lettuce cups. A light, crunchy no-cook chicken salad ready in 5 minutes.
Spicy Beef Lettuce Cups
Spicy beef lettuce cups loaded with sirloin stir-fried in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and Chinese five spice. A crispy, low-carb appetizer that comes together in just 20 minutes.
Vegetable Marinade
Marinated vegetable salad with cauliflower, cucumber, and tomato in a white wine and lemon vinaigrette. A make-ahead side dish that marinates overnight and serves in lettuce cups.
Fiera's Orzo Muffaletta Salad
A convoluted version of Muffaletta salad inspired the the New Orleans sandwich of the same name. Based on a recipe by that Guy on Food Network; a dressed up pasta salad that's packed with loads of punchy flavors and textures then served in Bibb lettuce cups.
